Biddy’s Crossroads Bar is one of the first buildings that will greet you as you reach the floor of the Glencolmcille valley.

Glencolmcille is in the extreme South West corner of County Donegal. An outlying district in the Republic of Ireland’s outlying county. There is no passing traffic here.

We are within a Gaeltacht (that is one of Ireland’s regions where Irish-Gaelic is the first language amongst the locals).

Many of the visitors come here to learn the Irish language. Some are learning from scratch, some are here to brush up on the Irish they learned at school.

They can often be found between classes sitting outside “Biddy’s Crossroads Bar”.

Glencolmcille is a classic flat-floored glaciated valley. At the end where it opens to the Atlantic there is a gorgeous sandy beach. The hills on either side are much beloved by ramblers and hill-walkers.

Method and Techie details

This HDR (High Dynamic Range) panorama was created by combining 27 separate digital photographs covering every angle and with bracketed exposure. Hence there is detail both in the most brightly lit areas and in the shadows.

The Source images – with exposure bracketed at +2 and -2 stops – were shot on a Canon EOS 5d DSLR with a 16 mmm fisheye lens, and were stitched and blended using Hugin – a free open-source panorama stitching program.